Hi

Our 14 month old puppy Della is being a picky about her food and only eating her a third of her normal amount?

Could this be that she is needs a change in diet.
She gets the Eukanuba large breeds dry biscuits - usually mixed with rice and any other left over veggies going. Although now that it's summer we haven't had carrots and broccoli lately. She turned her nose up at the peas today too.

She used to like couscous too but seems to have gone off that too. She gets plenty of fruit as a treat, and yoghurt pots to lick out.

It seems she is holding out for some of what we are eating and isn't interested in her own. We are carefull not feed her at the table and don't give her anything other than healthy treats.

Does anyone have any other suggestions for favourite toppings?

hello there,

We had this exact same problem with Darby... the vet told us to leave him go hungry and he would eat it eventually! well he did'nt and lost 5kgs... we switched vets (especially when our Darby came home limping)!

We had him on Hills science plan at 1st but he went off this at around the same age. we then learned that hills wasn't great and so began the long process of trying to get him to eat!

Nutrition for growing berners is critical to avoid health/joint problems in the futur. we tried everything on the shelf and darby wouldn't even touch it. so we started to add 1/2 can of wet food to dry nuts and he began to eat.

we put him in with his brother (who will eat anything!) and he started eating again... i think this was due to the competition for food between them, if Darby didn't eat it his brother would!

now darby is on Royal canin giant junior and he loves it...
Giant Junior Dog Food | Royal Canin

I think the size of the nuts is a really relevant factor as darby seemed to alway leave the small nuts and loves crunching the big ones! I hope this helps

Be careful on the type of "nuts" that you're feeding your dog. Not all are good for dogs, and for a growing puppy, too much protein (which nuts are high in protein) is not desireable.

Gail

Originally Posted by stitch413

hello there,

We had this exact same problem with Darby... the vet told us to leave him go hungry and he would eat it eventually! well he did'nt and lost 5kgs... we switched vets (especially when our Darby came home limping)!

We had him on Hills science plan at 1st but he went off this at around the same age. we then learned that hills wasn't great and so began the long process of trying to get him to eat!

Nutrition for growing berners is critical to avoid health/joint problems in the futur. we tried everything on the shelf and darby wouldn't even touch it. so we started to add 1/2 can of wet food to dry nuts and he began to eat.

we put him in with his brother (who will eat anything!) and he started eating again... i think this was due to the competition for food between them, if Darby didn't eat it his brother would!

now darby is on Royal canin giant junior and he loves it...
Giant Junior Dog Food | Royal Canin

I think the size of the nuts is a really relevant factor as darby seemed to alway leave the small nuts and loves crunching the big ones! I hope this helps

Plain yogurt (not fruit flavored) is a nice option too. The fruit and flavored yogurt has too much sugar.

Originally Posted by dellasdad

Hi

Our 14 month old puppy Della is being a picky about her food and only eating her a third of her normal amount?

Could this be that she is needs a change in diet.
She gets the Eukanuba large breeds dry biscuits - usually mixed with rice and any other left over veggies going. Although now that it's summer we haven't had carrots and broccoli lately. She turned her nose up at the peas today too.

She used to like couscous too but seems to have gone off that too. She gets plenty of fruit as a treat, and yoghurt pots to lick out.

It seems she is holding out for some of what we are eating and isn't interested in her own. We are carefull not feed her at the table and don't give her anything other than healthy treats.

Does anyone have any other suggestions for favourite toppings?

We feed our Berner girl a raw/kibble diet. we do the kibble only because we are often out and about and need the feeding to be convenient - for example when we're camping.
The past few days she's also started going off her food. She refuses the kibble entirely and will only eat certain kinds of meat. I haven't given her treats because I know she's holding out for them. I'm trying the hold out method hoping she'll realize it's better to eat than not. I'll be sure not to let it go too long but it's a bit unnerving. Are Berners known for this kind of behaviour? I was told that they'd eat anything and everything - and until lately that has been the case. Any advice would be welcomed.

Originally Posted by Gail949

Be careful on the type of "nuts" that you're feeding your dog. Not all are good for dogs, and for a growing puppy, too much protein (which nuts are high in protein) is not desireable.

Gail

Thanks Gail, I'm aware of the levels of proteins/ash/fibre etc... we've had a fair few visits to the vets over the last 3 years (the common eye and joint problems) so we're well informed - but thankyou for the reply

Originally Posted by linda_wlu

We feed our Berner girl a raw/kibble diet. we do the kibble only because we are often out and about and need the feeding to be convenient - for example when we're camping.
The past few days she's also started going off her food. She refuses the kibble entirely and will only eat certain kinds of meat. I haven't given her treats because I know she's holding out for them. I'm trying the hold out method hoping she'll realize it's better to eat than not. I'll be sure not to let it go too long but it's a bit unnerving. Are Berners known for this kind of behaviour? I was told that they'd eat anything and everything - and until lately that has been the case. Any advice would be welcomed.

Hello there,

It is a common experience amongst berner owners.

I find that if any of my berners have meat or extras with the kibble they tended to leave the kibble and eat everything else.

this has sorted itself out with a strict approach to feeding (Darby went without eating kibble for 5 days once in a standoff to get meat - obviously i gave in 1st!!)

I found this worked:
1st of all - get rid of all dog treats in the house, put them away and don't give in!

2nd feed her at the same time twice/3 times a day (depending on age).

3rd feed her the exact same food you want her to eat, dont vary it and dont add to it.

4th start off with half her recommended intake in the bowl (until she starts clearing the bowl so you dont waste the food/ and so she has enough to eat)

5th dont fuss over her!! put the food down, give her 15 minutes to eat then take up the bowl until the next feed time. dont pay her attention for not eating - dont try to lull her!

6th continue with this for as long as your comfortable to (this can take 7 days! it did with my lads but I had the vet call over a couple of times because i wasn't comfortable "starving" my berners). after the 7th day they gave in and cleared their bowls and i have never had a problem since - now i give them loads of treats and extras with the kibble and they always clear the bowl.

7th when they "break" continue the routine with full portions until they get used to eating the diet you want them to have.

another great tip is to let her see you eat your dinner and finish it about 10 minutes before you give her food ( her own food). DONT be tempted to give her some, regardless of those big brown eyes!!
the aim is to draw a clear line through what she gets and what you eat.

another thing i should mention is the food i have my boys on. I switched to royal canine giant breed (it was the only one offering a money back guarantee if your dog didnt eat it at the time!) I found this the only winner, and i tried absolutely every other kibble out there! I bought an airtight kibble bin to keep it fresh too.


NB it is worth saying you should consult your vet when your going to have issues with your dog not eating to rule out any health causes and let the vet advise you especially when the dog holds out for 3 days or more.

mind if I ask how old she is?

She's a year and a half old.

She's in tact as well so that sometimes comes into play when they go into heat. But she just had a cycle last month and went back to her normal self after that. The only other time she's refused food is when she's in heat.

And I don't understand why it's becoming a standoff now - we've been doing this her whole life. Every meal is different. We feed chicken, pork, beef, turkey, eggs, etc. along with the kibble.
We're on day 2 of the standoff - I sure hope it doesn't last 7 days!!

Im sure darby was younger when i had this problem.

just stick with it, possibly reduce the meat and increase the kibble for a while or leave out the meat altogether until she gets the message.

I know it can be a struggle but berners really do know how to play us!... after the 1st stand off with my guy he just laid down on the floor one night and wouldn't move - of course it freaked me out so i ran down and got 5big macks and gave him the meat from them - no doubt he suddenly 'recovered' with a look of contempt on his face

after that i knew he was completely playing me!! now if he doesn't eat the kibble i simple remove it and make sure he can see me eat something tasty when he has no food. come the next feeding he eats all the kibble again! he rarely skips a meal now. i hope this helps